


Eligibility

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Bros Talking It Out, Gen, Happy Ending, Injury, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 12:10:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5743336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Then I don’t understand, Hannah, why didn’t you redshirt?” Lee demanded. “Sure, losing you for a season would be a blow, but we could have managed without you. Especially when you’d be back next year. Healthy.”</p>
<p>“This is Kess’s last year of eligibility.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eligibility

**Author's Note:**

> I have been awash in Amanda Kessel and Hannah Brandt feels all day and started writing this at about midnight, so you get fresh crazy feels.

Wisconsin swept them. It was the first time the Badgers had beaten them since before Hannah had joined the team. Hell, it was the first time anyone had swept Minnesota since 2010. Everyone retreated to the locker room in shock after the handshake. Frosty talked quietly to them, but Hannah didn’t take any of it in. Nobody did. Muzie also had a few words, but they weren’t coated in her usual fire breath, she was also stunned by the loss. JJ didn’t say anything, but he freely wept with some of the younger girls.

Hannah was too busy rubbing the pain out of her elbow to cry. She had gotten used to doing that after every game this season. It was a good distraction from the pain of the loss. Hannah looked up when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. Lee was staring at her from across the room with a frown on her face. Hannah looked back down at her arm. That frown probably wasn’t meant for her, Lee was just staring unhappily into space and her eyes had incidentally landed on her. That was totally reasonable.

As soon as all of the coaching staff left the locker room Lee dragged Hannah into the showers by her good arm. Dani and Brook made to follow them, but Lee curtly told them it was captains’ business and to butt out. Hannah smiled weakly and waved them off as well. Lee was pissed, which never happened, and if she wanted to have this conversation in private, Hannah probably did as well. They wound up in a tiny storage closet at the far end of the showers, which was the most privacy they’d get without leaving the locker room. As soon as the door shut Lee tore into her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lee snapped. She seemed to loom over Hannah in the unsteady glow of the single incandescent bulb over their heads. “I watched you the whole game and the way you were playing was not okay.”

“I’m so sorry, I should have been better on the ice,” Hannah apologized. One assist in the Wisconsin series wasn’t enough. She was co-captain; she should have contributed more. They wouldn’t have lost if she had. “I know how important Wisconsin is.”

“Fuck Wisconsin. Seriously, fuck ‘em. I don’t care about them right now,” Lee said, waving a hand dismissively. She locked eyes with Hannah. “What I care about is the fact you’re so hurt you can barely handle the puck. What the hell, Brandt? It’s been weeks since you were able to shoot without wincing.”

“I…” Hannah trailed off lamely. “It’s not that bad.”

“Bull. Your elbow has been plaguing you all season. You injured it messing with those traffic cones in Lake Placid.”

“Hey, you were messing with those cones too!” Hannah said defensively.

“Yeah, but I didn’t ram my elbow into the side of a cement truck when the cops told us to get out of the street! Nor did I aggravate putting in 110% during training camp and never taking a break this semester.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Yes. It is,” Lee said firmly. She exhaled loudly and shook her head. “I thought you could managed it, but I was wrong. Please tell me you at least told the trainers about it? They had to have noticed.”

“Of course I did.”

“But you didn’t let on how bad it really was,” Lee finished for her. Hannah couldn’t really deny that. “I gotta tell Frosty you’re too injured to play. I’m sorry.”

“You can’t do that! Come on, Lee, it’s not that bad,” Hannah insisted. “This was the last game of the semester and by the end of winter break I’ll be fine.”

“You can’t promise me that, you don’t know. I wouldn’t be a good friend or captain if I didn’t tell Frosty,” Lee said. “Your health is paramount. Everyone would rather you rest rather than continue playing and break. If you haven’t learned that by now, the Gopher program’s failed you.”

“Fuck,” Hannah sighed in resignation. Lee was right. Lee was always right. “Okay, I just thought I could work through it.”

“I know. You’re a total workhorse, only taking one game off your entire time with Minnesota and that was to play for Team USA with Dani and me, but this time you need a rest,” Lee sighed. “You should have medically redshirted this year. It’s not a bad thing; I did it with no ill effects.”

“But that was for the Olympics. Not a bad elbow.”

“It still falls under NCAA guidelines.” Lee sighed and leaned against a laundry hamper. “If you had done it, we would of graduated together and you’d get another year playing with Easy and Sarah. You know Potomak only left Canada for you.”

“I know,” Hannah whined, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. They were friends now, but it took all of training camp to get Sarah to breathe normally around Hannah. Two and a half years of obsessively following Hannah’s career, both national and collegiate, had her star struck.

“Then I don’t understand, Hannah, why didn’t you redshirt?” Lee demanded. “Sure, losing you for a season would be a blow, but we could have managed without you. Especially when you’d be back next year. Healthy.”

“This is Kess’s last year of eligibility.” 

Hannah didn’t look up from her bare toes. The closet tile was pretty grody and she vaguely noted she’d want to scrub her feet really hard in the shower when it was her turn to compensate. Lee let out a long loud breath, but didn’t say anything. Hannah appreciated that. She knew how stupid her reason sounded. After a moment Lee pulled her in for a tight hug. Hannah buried her face in Lee’s bra and clung for dear life. She wasn’t going to cry about Amanda again. Not now. Not when they had just lost to Wisconsin.

“You know there’s no way she’s going to play, right?” Lee softly asked.

“She’s skating again. That new Pittsburgh doctor has her out of the dark room and living her life again,” Hannah mumbled into her friend. Lee petted her hair, patient and calm like usual. She was the best co-captain a girl could have, always handling the stupid technical crap so Hannah could do what she did best, which was fire up the team. “I’ve watched her skate.”

“I know. I’ve watched you watch her skate.”

“Kess said she thinks she’s ready to try it with the team. Nothing serious and no contact, but that’s leaps and bounds better than she was last year. Better than even in September when she started taking classes again. I mean, she’s on track for her best academic semester at Minnesota, that couldn’t be the case if she’s still having concussion symptoms!”

“Even if she’s not having symptoms anymore that doesn’t mean she’s ready to play D1 hockey again. It’s rough exerting hockey. She probably doesn’t have the stamina anymore,” Lee reminded her gently. “One semester may not be enough time to get into shape enough to play a full game.”

“Don’t I know that?” Hannah demanded pulling back. She was furious, partly at herself, mostly at the situation, but at the moment it was easiest to direct it at Lee. “Of course I know that, I’m not stupid!”

“I never suggested you were.”

“You were never her linemate, Lee, you don’t know what it’s like! That year together was magical!”

“Hey, I do get. Defense is all about a solid partnership and that changes less than the lines. I also played with Amanda during our perfect freshmen season and I spent a year on the National Team before playing with her on the Olympics. I miss playing with her too, but if she comes back, best case scenario, it still won’t be freshmen year again.”

“Then why are you being so…” Hannah trailed off, running her hands through her hair in frustration. She couldn’t think of the right words. “Even if I only get one more game with her—even if it’s only one fucking shift—it’d be worth it to play with Amanda again! I’m willing to put up with a mild to moderate level of pain for the season if there’s a chance!”

“Okay,” Lee said. Her unexpected agreement took the wind out of Hannah’s sails and she sagged like a marionette’s strings that had been cut. “Let’s assume she gets better. Good enough she can play at least one shift on Senior Day. Heck, let’s assume she’s good enough to play the entire weekend and could continue on into the postseason. That’s great, but what’s Amanda going to do when her center’s benched because she tore all the ligaments off her busted elbow because she wouldn’t rest? Hmm?”

“I… I hadn’t thought of that,” Hannah admitted. She rubbed her elbow. It was pretty sore. She needed to take her hot shower and ice it soon. Re-wrap it too.

“That’s why we’re co-captains, so I can remember the things you forget,” Lee smiled. “Go shower and take care of your arm. I’ll give you the rest of the night to tell Frosty what’s going on, but if you don’t I’m going straight to his office first thing tomorrow morning and telling him everything while casting you in the worst light possible.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him, no need to go nuclear,” Hannah laughed.

“We cool?” Lee asked, suddenly sounding timid. She weakly held up her fist by her chest as if unsure whether or not to extend it toward Hannah, though to be fair, there wasn’t really room in the closet.

“Totally,” Hannah promised, smacking her fist into Lee’s fist and then exploding her hand backwards.

When they came out of the closet Brook was still in the shower, but the rest of the team had finished. Hannah and Lee both quickly stripped and hopped into empty stalls. With the bum arm Hannah was slower than Lee and by the time she was halfway dressed her co-captain was headed out, pausing only to remind her to tell him one last time. Then she was left with only her linemates.

Dani frowned at her and Hannah was reminded of the similar grimace on Lee’s face earlier. She imagined she wasn’t going to like what was on Dani’s mind any better. Sarah just looked nervous. She seemed a bit twitchy, but intent on staying as well.

“Give it here,” Dani said, holding out her hand. “You’re gonna muck up the ace bandage if you try to put it on your elbow on your own. Sarah, grab her shirt. She’s going to need help putting it on.”

“Why do you think that?” Hannah spluttered, automatically handing over the bandage. Dani rolled her eyes and started wrapping her arm.

“We’re your linemates. We know you better than anyone else. Of course we know when you’re hurt and you’ve gotten bad enough the whole team knows. The Power Play Club probably knows by now. I mean, you’ve switched to button up shirts!”

“I told Lee about it. Your injury, I mean,” Sarah said. “Well, we both did, separately, but she already knew. We’re worried about you, Hannah.”

“I’m surprised Frosty hasn’t already benched you or that Muzie hasn’t torn you a new one for playing hurt,” Dani added. “If you’d like, I can call Bona and then you could have a real nurse in training angry and disappointed in your choices.”

“I got it, Lee’s already given me an ultimatum,” Hannah said. “I’m talking to Frosty later tonight.”

“Good,” Dani said. Sarah nodded in agreement. Then they stared at her. Both looked oddly fragile. That was when Hannah realized they were really worried about her.

“Come here you two,” Hannah said, holding out her arms.

They both wrapped their arms around Hannah’s middle, mindful of her bad arm. The hug lasted until Hannah realized she was too cold to be sitting there shirtless. She patted their backs and they quickly released her. Then Sarah helped her into her shirt. Not another word about her injury was spoken as they grabbed their post game meal and headed onto the bus. Hannah claimed her usual seat next to Dani, as she never complained when Hannah decided to use her as a pillow.

Once they were out of Madison and on the highway everyone was engrossed in their own separate projects and conversations. Hannah silently rose. Dani looked up from her book, when she noticed the sudden weight loss.

“Bathroom?” Dani asked.

“Naw,” Hannah said. She jerked her head toward the front of the bus. “Gotta take care of something. Hold my seat?”

“Always,” Dani promised.

Hannah ambled up the aisle then plopped into the empty seat next to her head coach. He looked up from his paper and gave her a smile. She smiled back hesitantly and took a breath. It was time.

“Hey Frosty, got a minute?”

* * *

In the end Hannah missed five games resting her elbow. That included the Minnesota Whitecaps exhibition, which they lost, and the home series against Ohio State and Mankato, which they won. At first they didn’t want her playing the series at St. Cloud either, even though Hannah had passed the minimal health checks. However, after pointing out she was going stir crazy after six weeks without a game and she needed to get back in the groove of things before facing Bemidji, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, Frosty relented and allowed Hannah to play. 

Now they were all lined up in the hall at Ridder about to take to the ice for the final game of the regular season. Fucking Wisconsin. Lee reported from her position at the head of the pack that Ridder was packed past capacity with a sea of gold and maroon fans, though there were also large splotches of red and white in the crowd. At least, that’s what Hannah thought she said, but it was hard to hear over the crowd and band. The border battle was always a sell out.

She looked down and tugged at the retro Goldie skating across her chest. They were in their golds today, a design never worn by the men over at Mariucci and at the moment that made Hannah immensely proud. The gold jersey was her lucky jersey. In her experience they had easier wins in that color and her first championship came in gold. After all, it made sense to earn gold, so to speak, in gold. 

The Gophers always entered the ice in numerical order. With twenty-two Hannah was near the back of the pack. She enjoyed the position because she could watch her teammates ahead of her reach up and slap the straining hands of small children reaching through the plex. They wanted to touch their Gophers, get acknowledgement from their heroes, just like she had at their age. When the brass kicked in the charge started. First it was Lee, then Anna, and then Sophie skipping over Tianna because she had been scratched. Kate burst out like a ball of fire, while Taylor followed at a slightly slower clip.

It was the girl behind Taylor that turned the crowd’s roars deafening. Even the Badger fans were up on their feet howling. After all, Amanda Kessel was born and raised in Madison. They adored their hometown girl—lucky number eight—even if she betrayed them to sign with Minnesota. They’d always forgive her though; especially when this was the first time anyone had seen her publically skate since Sochi.

It took a few more seconds for Hannah to reach the ice. By that point there were enough players circling around their zone she had to merge into the line. That was typical. Skating just behind Amanda, so close she could run her glove down Amanda’s eight, was not. Hannah had been chasing that eight for years She couldn’t put into words how much it meant to be right behind her again now. Probably something similar to how Sarah felt chasing her own twenty-two.

They lined up along the goal line and patiently waited through the overproduced Gopher videos about their history and the Badgers’ starting line up. Hannah rarely paid close attention to any of that. The videos were embarrassingly dramatic and she already knew who was who on the other side. They all did. Division one women’s hockey wasn’t that large of a place not to know the enemy. Especially when it was Wisconsin. Instead the team did repeated waves of stick taps down the line. It was calming, familiar, and a bit of focusing teamwork right before they played to win. Soon it was Minnesota’s turn to announce their starting line up. When Kessel was announced as the starting right wing everyone cheered loudly and long enough to put the announcer behind schedule with things only dying down after the band had started the National Anthem.

When she reached center ice for puck drop everything felt surreally magical to Hannah. She looked to her left and saw Sarah grinning proudly at her like she was the best mentor in the world. Then Hannah looked to her right and saw Amanda had the same expression, though in her case she was looking at her protégée. Amanda seemed to remember this because after a moment the grin morphed into a smirk. She winked at Hannah, then jerked her head forward to silently remind her about the game and referee. Hannah grinned and nodded before turning her attention forward. 

She shot the Badger center her fiercest look over the referee. Hannah didn’t care that Wisconsin swept them earlier that year. It didn’t matter now. All that did was that she was on a line with Amanda. Sarah too, though later it would be Dani. Amanda was flexible like that. They were going to have fun and, if Hannah had anything to say about it, they were going to win.

**Author's Note:**

> The feels were inspired by a suggestion I heard at a Gopher game. Namely that Hannah Brandt chose to play this season despite an ongoing injury (which has kept her out of four official games and an exhibition in a row) because this was the last season Amanda Kessel was NCAA eligible.
> 
> Updated end note for important reality: BEST KESSEL IS BACK!!! Amanda Kessel is officially back on the Gopher Women's Hockey roster and will play with them for the rest of the season, starting with the North Dakota home series. So, she resumes playing with the team again two weeks earlier than I had ~~hoped~~ ~~dreamed~~ written about in this fic. Best way to be Jossed ever.


End file.
